Go behind the scenes to see how costume designers bring Elsa, Anna and Olaf to life in Disney's Frozen musical
Frozen is one of Disney's greatest hits, and now CBS News Colorado has been given rare access to go behind the scenes of the musical production of the show to see how the characters are brought to life.
CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas recently met with the star of the Broadway tour, Caroline Bowman, and the crew who help make the magic come to life on stage in every production.
Meredith Scott, wardrobe supervisor for the tour, took Thomas backstage to see how her team keeps countless costumes ready for quick changes every night.
"Right now we are in female gondola row, or the bunker, this is where our female ensemble changes throughout the show," Scott said.
The "bunker" is directly behind the main stage. It is filled with the costumes that leads and more will change into during the live production at the Buell Theatre.
"Roughly how many pieces do you deal with any given night?" Thomas asked.
"In the thousands," Scott said.
To try and make the production as realistic as they could, each costume is given specific details that are unique to that individual piece.
"Everything, every one of these costumes, is completely different," Scott said.
Though Frozen takes place in an imaginary kingdom, those with the production wanted to make sure it was as true to a Scandinavian-like kingdom as possible. Therefore, the costume designers used real and heavy materials to reflect that culture and feeling.
"Explain to me how important it is to get the movie and bring it to life in your own interpretation?" Thomas said.
"The thing that is so great about Disney is they take what we are used to seeing on a screen and translating it to the stage with a little more pizazz," Scott said.
Bowman is one of the few who knows how magical a single costume can be. During the performance she abruptly changes costumes in front of live audiences, leaving many to wonder how it is possible.
She took Thomas to stage left to see the dress most audiences connect with the most.
"This is Elsa's iconic ice dress, it has thousands upon thousands of beads," Bowman said.
Bowman said the dresses she wears are so iconic and transformative that they are characters in themselves. She even spoke of the dresses as if they were individuals.
"I put her on and I become Elsa," Bowman said. "It is in a second (Elsa) is in this dress, and it is wild. It always gets a huge response from the audience."
Bowman confessed playing Elsa, or any other character in Frozen's musical, comes with high expectations. Many people have seen the animated movie many times and expect everything to be accurate and magical.
Bowman said she hoped to be inspiring the young children in the audience.
"They are seeing this empowering woman who is stepping into her own and owning exactly who she is meant to be in this life," Bowman said. "It must be wild for them to see a cartoon they know and love come to life with human beings. It is so special, these kids are changed forever."
Frozen played at the Buell Theatre and Denver Center for the Performing Arts through July 3. CBS Colorado is a proud partner of the DCPA.
